BJP used Ram temple issue for electoral gains: Mulayam

Lucknow: Asserting that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not accept his offer for ‘land’ at a place ‘other than the disputed site’ for building the Ram temple, Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Saturday accused the saffron party of using the issue for electoral gains.

Mulayam alleged that BJP never had the intention to build the temple, despite ‘collecting donations’ for it from across the world.

"When I was the Uttar Pradesh chief minister, I told BJP that I was ready to give land at any other place other than the disputed site, if you win the case in the court, there will be two temples, but they did not concede," he said, while addressing a national farmers' conference in Lucknow.

The saffron party never had any intention to construct the temple, otherwise it would have accepted his proposal, he said, and alleged that it was using the issue for electoral gains.

"BJP took donations from all over the world in the name of the temple. When I went to London, I came to know that donation was collected there," he said, and asked BJP to give an account of foreign and domestic donations collected for the temple.

Speaking on the issue of farmers, Mulayam held the BJP and BSP responsible for the plight of the farmers.

"If farmers are not happy and prosperous, then the country will not become great," he said, even as some farmers raised slogans over dues in cane payments during the programme.

The SP supremo said that if the country has to become a superpower, then Uttar Pradesh has to become number one. He also said that the SP government is taking steps to resolve the problems in power sector, and promised this would be done in the next one and a half years.